


Half Whim, Half Salt

by Shiningheart_of_ThunderClan



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, I'll update tags as I go, Identity Reveal, Post-Episode: s03 Caméléon | Chameleon, Watching the Show, salt fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2020-02-04 13:31:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18605518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shiningheart_of_ThunderClan/pseuds/Shiningheart_of_ThunderClan
Summary: After seeing how Marinette gets treated post-Chameleon, the class plus Luka and Kagami are brought in to see exactly how much Marinette Dupain-Cheng has done for them all. And if the fact that she's Ladybug happens to get spilled, well... They can deal with it.





	Half Whim, Half Salt

**Author's Note:**

> So I've been wanting to do a Watching the Show fic here for a while. And I figured, why not combine it with the salt I'm still feeling over Chameleon? I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE, I KNOW I'M NOT.
> 
> Hence, this was born. I'm using the English version since that's the one I know, and following the series as it's listed in the Wikipedia. I was going to use the Netflix list but that's all kinds of out of whack so. -shrugs-
> 
> If you see any slashes (/) let me know. It's how I was trying to remember where italics went and if there's any left, I need you to tell me.

The first thing Marinette registered was how sore she was. Her limbs felt heavy, like she'd fallen asleep on them and they'd gone numb. But that wasn't possible. The last thing she remembered was talking to Alya on their way to the library to work on homework. Was there an akuma loose? The siren for them hadn't gone off, but it could have only just happened.

Wait. Alya. Was she okay?

It took far too much effort, but Marinette finally got her eyes opened enough to look around. She was in a large, theater-like room. There was a screen on the far wall, big enough to fit the wall. Alongside the left wall was a buffet table of snacks, chips and chocolate and baked goods galore. There were doors on the right wall, three in total. Two were labeled as bathrooms, and the third had a sign saying ‘kitchen'. And around her…

Marinette blinked. Well, good news. She found Alya. She also found the rest of her class, Lila included. The real surprise was in finding Luka and Kagami with them. The real REAL surprise was in the way they were all placed, and placed on.

The heavy feelings in her limbs wasn't from lack of blood, it was from too much. She and the rest of the teenagers were each on beanbags, each a different color. Some of them were curled up in the middle, and some of them were laying with their arms falling down the side, like hers had been. She did not envy any of them one bit.

Their seats were placed in a half-circle. To her left was Adrien, and his proximity was enough to make her sweat. To her right was Luka, and to his right was Kagami. A selfish part of her was glad Kagami was on the far side of Adrien, as far as she could get without being in another row.

In the row behind her were, in order: Nino, Alya, Lila, Chloe, and Sabrina. Marinette growled and glared distrustfully at Lila, half certain she was the cause of this, but took a breath to calm herself. If this WASN’T an akuma, the last thing she wants was to attract one. Behind them was the rest of the class: Rose, Juleka, Max, and Kim in the third row, and Alix, Nathaniel, Ivan, Mylene in the fourth.

A groan made her look at Adrien, who was squeezing his eyes shut and not opening them. “Did anybody get the number the akuma that hit me?” he grumbled, no doubt thinking he was alone. That thought was crushed when Marinette giggled a little at the unexpected joke, making Adrien snap his eyes open and squint at her. “... Marinette?”

She smiled gently at him, hoping it wasn’t one of her creepy too-wide grins. “H-hey A-Adrien.” He tried to push himself up and Marinette reflexively went to help him, gripping his upper arm and steadying him when he swayed. He gave her the sweetest smile and thanked her before looking around. Marinette gulped. “Y-you’re welcome.” She suddenly became very aware she was still holding onto his bicep and pulled away with a mortified squeak.

Thankfully it seemed he didn’t notice her mortification. “This is weird. Was it an akuma?”

His question made her focus on the situation rather than him, a very rare occurrence, and she once more looked around. “I don’t think so. I was with Alya, last I remember, and none of you were anywhere near us. And to kidnap ONLY our class? Either this akuma has a very specific target or it’s not an akuma.”

Adrien hummed and nodded, sitting back and shuffling deeper into his beanbag. Marinette had to crack a smile and look away before she started blushing again. They waited in a surprisingly comfortable silence for the rest of the class to wake. One by one the class regained consciousness, each with their own questions. Marinette and Adrien answered them as best they could, having been awake longer.

Marinette only turned away from her classmates when the other male by her side groaned. The first thing Luka saw when he opened his eyes was her. “Marinette?” He slurred out. She nodded and Luka sat up with a groan, rubbing at his face. He yawned and stretched his arms up toward the ceiling, trying to wake his body up faster. “Where are we?” he asked, glancing around.

She opened her mouth to answer only for a voice on Luka’s other side to answer instead. “It looks like a… an amphitheater. Or a cinema.” Marinette bent forward to see Kagami also awake, looking far more alert than anybody who’d just woken up from a deep sleep three seconds ago should. Kagami suddenly turned to meet Marinette’s gaze, and the coolness of those eyes made an unpleasant shiver crawl down her spine. “Have you any idea what’s going on, Marinette?”

Marinette tried to ignore how formal the question sounded and shrugged. She went to verbally reply when the lights dimmed and the screen lit up. The class turned their attention to it and saw… an emoticon. A smirking ball of yellow with a cowboy hat on it. Every single one of them was surprised, but a fair few of them were also partially amused.

Then the cowboy emoticon faded into a girl. She had brown hair, pale skin, and hazel colored eyes. That was about the only thing they noticed before she was speaking. “Hey guys, sorry about that. Technical difficulties.” She leaned back into what appeared to be a leather chair and steepled her hands together, holding them in front of her face. “Now, I’m sure you all have some questions. First of all, no, this isn’t an akuma attack. My name is Riley, Riley Cooper. I’ve brought you all here for… for a lesson, let’s say.”

She narrowed her eyes and flicked her eyes about them all, not looking at a single one of them. “It has come to my attention that most of you are really crappy friends.” Everyone excepting those in the front row started protesting loudly. Chloe giving the classic ‘MY DADDY’S THE MAYOR’, Lila starting to give the crocodile tears, the works. Riley gave them all a few moments to get it out before holding up her hand.

Adrien flinched, just the tiniest bit. He was familiar with that gesture. His father did the same thing when Adrien was trying to protest an unfair punishment. It was a gesture saying that Riley had all the power and wasn’t afraid to use it. Riley saw it and flashed him a soft smile before frowning at the rest of them. “Let’s review, shall we? A week ago, one Lila Rossi arrived back at school, claiming she had… what was it, tennistitus? Tinitis?” She snapped her fingers and declared, “Tinnitus, that’s it!”

Everyone saw where this was going and eyes shifted down to Marinette. She felt their gazes and hunched her shoulders, trying to appear smaller. She felt both of her hands being taken and looked up at both Adrien and Luka, who each had a hold. Luka looked a tad confused, which was understandable. Juleka probably hadn’t told him much of what was going on. That didn’t stop him from giving a comforting squeeze, along with Adrien.

She gave both boys a smile and relaxed, looking back up at Riley who had continued to list off the class’s crimes. “Let me put it this way you lot: you not only shuffled the seats around without asking Marinette if she was okay with it, you put her in the back! The rest of you wanted to sit with your friends, I get that, but let me ask this. If you guys were sitting with your friends and Marinette was alone, what does that mean for her?” Riley paused, as if waiting for an answer, but the class stayed in silence. “It means she felt none of you wanted to sit by her.

“And later that same day, when Marinette tried to convince Lila was lying- which she was, actually, just so you know- the rest of you _turned on her_. Her! Marinette Dupain-Cheng! Your class president, your everyday Ladybug, the person who has bent over backwards and did everything she could to help you and make you happy, even when it inconvenienced her! You called her a bully, said she was no better than Chloe, then proceeded to isolate her for a week. She didn’t deserve that, and you don’t deserve her.”

Riley took a deep breath after her rant and closed her eyes. She was visibly trying to reign in her temper. When she opened her eyes again, there was still a bit of frost in her gaze, but her voice was carefully restrained. “So to show you all exactly how much Marinette has done for you over the course of the past few months, we’re going to watch her. Her life, her victories, and her defeats. And each and every one of you is going to apologize by the end of this, or so help me…”

She didn’t finish her threat, but she looked down at the gaping Marinette with a smile. “Sorry Marinette, there’s no getting out of this. So if you have any confessions to make, now would be the time.”

Marinette closed her mouth with a snap, but her eyes remained wide. Did she mean…? Riley winked, so quickly Marinette wasn’t even sure she saw correctly, but suddenly she knew. She knew that Riley knew and if they were really about to watch her life then that meant the entire _class_ would find out she was Ladybug and then-

…

The class. Would find out. She was _Ladybug_. If this really was about teaching them a lesson then what would stick more than the fact that they’d ostracized the _actual Ladybug_? Sure this wasn’t the best idea, Marinette knew that, and Tikki would probably be furious, but… but… But she was TIRED of being alone. She was tired of eating alone, she was tired of sitting alone, she was tired of feeling hated.

Slowly Marinette started to smile up at Riley, and Riley’s smile widened. Marinette cleared her throat and stood up to make sure everybody could hear her. “So, since I can’t get out of it, I do have ONE confession to make.” She paused and looked down right at Adrien. The knowledge that soon the class would know everything gave her courage, and she used that courage to speak without stuttering. “Adrien, you remember the day in the rain, when you gave me your umbrella?” Caught by surprise, Adrien could only nod slowly. “Since then I’ve had this giant, monstrous crush on you.”

Adrien _squeaked_. It was such a cute sound that Marinette giggled, making Adrien’s face flush red. For the sake of continuing, Marinette pushed down the urge to swoon. “From the outside it might seem kind of creepy, but I promise you it isn’t as bad as it might seem! I… might have stolen your phone, once or twice, because SOMEBODY,” here she directed a raised eyebrow to Alya, who seemed torn between pride that Marinette was finally confessing and irritation that her problem with Lila was affecting the rest of them now, “convinced me to call you and I ended up leaving a super embarrassing voicemail.”

Adrien shook his head to clear his thoughts and tried to respond. “I… I’m sure it couldn’t have been that bad?” Oh sure, THAT’S what his mouth decides to focus on. Though if Marinette had a crush on him that would certainly explain the stuttering and blushing and the pictures of him all over her room… which he KNEW wasn’t because she was a big fan of fashion!

Marinette paused, looked him right in the eye, and declared, “I called you hot stuff.” Adrien choked, and the declaration finally broke the class of their icy silence. Some of them snickered, some of them ‘aw’ed, and the rest rolled their eyes. Up to you to decide who did what. “But that’s not all, either. This is the part that’s kind of creepy, and I need you to keep an open mind about it.” He blinked and nodded slowly, encouraging her to continue. It took Marinette a moment to gather the courage before blurting out, “Ihadacalenderofyourscheduleupinmyroom!”

He had to mentally decipher that before making a face. Okay, yeah, that was… a bit more than a little creepy. But he promised he’d keep an open mind, so he gestured for Marinette to continue. She gave him a shaky smile, thankful for the opportunity to explain. “So everybody here knows you’re super busy all the time, right? It’s common knowledge that if we want you to attend something we need to tell you in advance so you can get permission to come. Don’t you think it’s a little coincidental that Kim and Alix’s race happened on a day you happened to have free? And the second photoshoot for Juleka, when Chloe locked her in the bathroom? And, and my birthday party?” Realizing her anxiety was starting to spiral, Marinette took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Without opening her eyes, and said, “I keep that schedule not to keep track of you, but to know when you were free so we could invite you to stuff. So I could spend time with you.”

There was silence, from both him and the others, before an ugly snort made her pop her eyes open. To her relief, it wasn’t Adrien (of course it wasn’t, he couldn’t give an ugly _anything_ ). It was Lila instead, who was narrowing her eyes at her. “Or so you knew when to steal his phone, apparently. Who knows what else you’ve stolen when he wasn’t aware of it? Sounds to me like you’re just a stalker, Marinette.”

Marinette knew not to let Lila get to her. She KNEW it. But the fact of the matter was, she was kind of right too. Marinette had taken that poem he’d written from the trash after he’d already thrown it away, and she watched him all the time, and she made up excuses to be near him, and she had his pictures all over her room, for God’s sake! Forget going out with her, she was lucky if Adrien even wanted to be in the same ROOM as her-

 _”You shut your lying ass up right the fuck now, Rossi!”_ The roar came from Riley, and Marinette was so thankful for SOMEBODY to stand up for her she almost started crying then and there. “It’s not like that and you know damn well it’s not! See, this is what I’m talking about!” She threw her arms up in the air, apparently exasperated with the entire thing. “Lila attacks Marinette, you all witness it, but nobody does anything! Holy shit, by this point, you guys should thank your lucky stars that Marinette hasn’t transferred schools! I, I just, ggggrrrrr.”

She made a strangling motion with her hands and pointed right at Marinette, looking at Adrien and Luka both. “One of you, I don’t care who, give her a hug, dammit! The only reason I’m not doing it right now is because I can’t.” Luka and Adrien exchanged looks before nodding. Once again they each took one of Marinette’s hands and dragged her down into her seat. Adrien let Luka be the one to wrap his arms around Marinette, but made sure he had a hold of her hand still, rubbing her knuckles in an attempt at comforting her. Riley gave Marinette a few moments to calm down before questioning her. “Is there anything else you want to say, Marinette? To Adrien, to Luka, to the class?”

Marinette thought about it, burying her face into Luka’s shoulder and squeezing Adrien’s hand. Some vindictive part of her didn’t want to continue. Let them be surprised. So Marinette righted herself with a thankful smile to both boys before directing that smile up at Riley. “No. That’s all I want to say.”

Riley understood and nodded, sitting back in her seat in a show of calming down. “Great. Alright. Okay then. If you’re sure.” She addressed everybody at once, keeping her sentences short and clipped. “So there are snacks over there. Bathrooms are labeled and are ONLY to be used for using the toilet or washing your hands. The kitchen is if you guys want to take a break and make something more substantial. Marinette, you’re in charge of the remote. It’s under your beanbag.”

Marinette, in surprise, reached underneath and fished it out. “So the way I organized it is in episodes. Like a tv show. Some of them are locked until certain episodes are seen. For now, you only have access to what I call ‘season one’. They don’t have to be viewed in a certain order, except for the last three, which are locked. I’ll be watching alongside on my end and I’ll be listening in. If I need to interrupt for any reason, I’m going to be mad. Everybody understand?”

Everybody nodded, some a little more fearfully than others, but the general consensus was the same. Riley nodded to Marinette and hit a button the rest couldn’t see. She disappeared from the screen and in her place was three options. Exactly like she’d said, they were listed as Season One, Season Two, and Season Three. Marinette clicked on Season one, and the first episode to show up was Stormy Weather.

Marinette bit her lip before turning to the rest of the class. “Um. Does anybody have any requests for which episodes are first, or should we just do it in order?” She hated how weak she sounded. She was Marinette Dupain-Cheng, dammit! She shouldn’t be afraid to address her classmates. How would she ever do her duties as class president if she didn’t show any force behind it?

It was Alya who answered her after exchanging glances with those closest to her. She shrugged carelessly. “Nah, just do it in order. The beginning is usually the place to start, right?” Marinette smiled at her, but it wasn’t returned. She ignored how much that hurt (she’d been ignoring that a lot) and pressed play.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if it's sucky, I wrote most of this at like 4 in the morning. Forgive me.


End file.
